


yoroshiku onegaishimasu

by edibleflowers



Category: Persona 5
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, dancing in starlight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 21:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17433740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edibleflowers/pseuds/edibleflowers
Summary: Things happen in dreams.





	yoroshiku onegaishimasu

**Author's Note:**

> "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu", translated, loosely means "please take care of me" or "I put myself in your hands". There is no perfect translation in English for it.
> 
> This fic takes place during the Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight game and has minor spoilers for it. This is also why I'm using the name of Amamiya Ren for the protagonist. I also chose Ren's hometown randomly (thank you google maps).

Ren stares at Yusuke's mouth.

It's just a thing that happens every now and then when they're talking. Yusuke has a tendency to go off on long, spiraling tangents -- as he is just now, in point of fact, pondering various dance moves that he could incorporate into his routines, or particularly artistic finishing poses, or useful transitioning steps when others join in on his stage. Normally, Ren tends to nod along and make encouraging noises, which is all Yusuke really needs to keep going; his friend often works out his thoughts in this way, only needing an ear to bend in the process.

Right now, though, things are a little different than normal. They're not in the real world -- or the Metaverse, for that matter, though all of that is supposedly behind them. No, they're asleep and dreaming in the real world, and in their dreams they're creating dances and executing them at the behest of Ren's former Velvet Room wardens, Caroline and Justine. Further, the twins made a point of informing them that when this long night ends, neither of them -- nor the other Phantom Thieves who were also brought into this strange dance club -- will remember any of what happened.

It's almost too good a situation to be true. Ren knows he should be focusing on the dancing, on satisfying whatever requirements the twins have come up with. And he is, after all: he's been working on his own routines, rehearsing alone and with the others. But they have down time, too, to rest and take breaks in between performances. There's time to relax that they didn't often have, while they were being the Phantom Thieves, to simply talk and share and _be_ together. And right now, Ren and Yusuke have the main practice room to themselves.

"Ren, are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Yusuke asks, petulant.

Ren kisses him.

Yusuke flinches backwards. Ren does, too, nearly as surprised as Yusuke by his own forwardness. 

"Ren!" Yusuke gasps, a hand coming up to his mouth. His eyes are wide, though Ren hopes that's from startlement and not offense. 

"I'm sorry," Ren says. He takes a step back, lowers his eyes. He's not, not really: he'd acted on impulse, true, but he doesn't regret the action. "I shouldn't have--" Shouldn't have done it without making sure Yusuke was all right with it first. Shouldn't have hoped Yusuke would want it too. Shouldn't have--

A hand on his shoulder stops his panicked thoughts in their tracks. Yusuke's grasp is firm, as if to keep him from bolting. Swallowing, Ren looks from the hand (long narrow fingers, artist's fingers, stained with drops of paint, graphite dust shining along the outer side of the palm where it no doubt rested on a sketchpad) up to Yusuke again. Those deep blue eyes are concerned, rather than offended or upset.

"Don't apologize," Yusuke says. His usual formal tone has a softness to it. "You surprised me, that's all."

Ren's arms find their way around his middle. He clutches at his own sides as if to keep his hands from reaching for Yusuke again. "I didn't mean to offend you," he says, stiffly. Now he's grateful they won't remember this night for another reason: Yusuke won't recall this idiocy, will still see him as a friend, and Ren won't have to live with the shame of what he tried to do.

Yusuke's fingers shift to Ren's chin, curling there to lift his face. Reluctantly, Ren meets Yusuke's eyes, and Yusuke kisses him.

His breathing stops altogether, as if his lungs have frozen inside his chest. This time, though, there's no pulling back -- not from either side. Yusuke makes a little inquisitive sound; his other hand comes around Ren's waist and pulls him closer. Ren goes willingly. 

From somewhere nearby comes the sound of a door opening, and the both of them jerk away from the kiss this time. Yusuke's eyes are wide, his cheeks flushed; Ren has no doubt he looks the same way. They can hear female voices chattering: Ann and Makoto, in the middle of some excited conversation about who-knows-what.

"Not here," Yusuke says. He grabs Ren's hand, and Ren stumbles after him, praying the girls haven't noticed them.

* * *

Yusuke's small room has the austere, Spartan feel of an atelier: canvases lean against every wall, sketches have been pinned up over a dresser, and an easel dominates the space, an unfinished painting standing on it. In one corner, a futon is folded up out of the way. Ren has a brief image of some sort of monk -- except instead of spending his life in a cell praying, Yusuke's time is occupied with painting and drawing.

"There," Yusuke says, shutting the door behind them. "A little privacy can be a greatly desirable thing."

Ren nods in absent agreement, looking around. While the room is so very _Yusuke_ , the downside to that is there are no readily available flat surfaces, save the floor. (Ren informs himself sternly that that's not a bad thing. They're not immediately progressing to... more. Not right now.)

Yusuke, however, seems to be glancing around with a similar line of thought. After a moment, he takes the easel and moves it into a corner, then begins scooping up paints and jars from the floor. "Would you mind giving me a hand?" he asks, and Ren kneels to help gather up the various paint supplies to shift them to the top of the dresser.

"As you can see, I wasn't exactly planning on having visitors." Yusuke's voice is low, regretful; at first he just sets everything down, but then his long fingers begin to fidget and then to reach for the tubes of paint. He starts arranging everything neatly in some sort of order. "This night may go on for as long as necessary, but we don't seem to require sleep or nutrition or anything of that sort. I didn't feel the need to clean--"

"Yusuke," Ren says, and Yusuke goes quiet, glancing sidelong at him. Ren reaches over and rests a hand on top of Yusuke's. "It's OK. Really."

Yusuke stays silent, but his hand turns palm-up. His fingers close around Ren's as a little smile comes to his mouth.

"Let's sit down?" he suggests.

There's enough space now for both of them; Ren crosses his legs while Yusuke sits elegantly beside him. Ren searches the paintings stacked against the wall as if for some clue as to how to begin the conversation. The cubist version of Ann, stark and angular and violent on its canvas, gives him nothing.

"How long have you wanted to do that?" Yusuke says out of nowhere.

Ren feels his cheeks heat up again. "A while," he admits. Longer than he'd care to contemplate, really, but specifics aren't that important right now. "But there never seemed to be a good time to say anything, or do anything, and then I had to go back to Tokorozawa and it was too late."

"And this seemed as good a time as any." Yusuke's voice is soft, musing. "Especially given that we will not recall the events of this night when we wake."

"There is that. I mean, that's not the reason I -- I kissed you. Not the only one, anyway," he finishes lamely, looking down at the floor. "And now I don't want to forget it."

"Maybe we won't, though," Yusuke offers. "I know what we were told by those young ladies, but I find it hard to believe that, if this is not supposed to be part of your... how did they put it: your redemption? Your service? At any rate, if it is to have some effect on you, then surely you must remember it somehow."

Ren's struck enough by the idea that he doesn't think to correct Yusuke on what Caroline and Justine actually are. (Not that he's still entirely certain, himself.) "What are you saying?" he asks. "That if we create a memory strong enough..."

"That it might persist into waking," Yusuke finishes.

Ren swallows. "I don't want to forget this," he says, and his hand squeezes Yusuke's. With an effort, he brings his eyes up to meet Yusuke's level gaze. How is he so calm? Yusuke always seems so collected and cool -- on the surface, anyway. A memory strikes Ren: the moment Yusuke accepted his Persona, the legendary thief Goemon. Yusuke had been full of rage and righteous passion then, a deep well unexpectedly struck.

"Then let us make certain we don't," Yusuke says. His eyes flash, a sudden reminder of that day in the Metaverse. He leans into Ren's space, presses his mouth to Ren's. Before Ren can even respond, Yusuke's tugging him down to the floor, to his back.

"Yusuke," Ren breathes.

"I won't do anything either of us aren't ready for." Yusuke's hand is gentle on Ren's cheek, now, as he props himself over Ren. "I just want to kiss you."

Ren reaches up for Yusuke's collar and tugs him down. "Then kiss me already," he says. With a laugh, Yusuke complies.

* * *

The night goes on. They dance again and again. Sometimes they stand on the sidelines to watch the others; sometimes one or the other of them jumps in to join their friends. Occasionally they all dance together in one massive group, the moves somehow coming to them without planning or rehearsal; the music seems to tell them what to do. Ren lets himself be taken by it. If they are in the Metaverse, it's certainly the best experience he's had there.

In between songs, while chatting with the others, Ren feels Yusuke's arm slung casually around his waist. Ann's eyes go wide, but she says nothing of it. Ryuji gives them a suspicious glance; Ren had suspected Ryuji might be aware of his feelings about Yusuke back in the waking world, but he'd never brought it up. He doesn't really care if the others know, truth be told. Once again, they won't remember on waking, and if they do, they're as likely as he is to put it off to a dream.

(Which is probably why, at some point, he notices Ann and Makoto quietly chatting in a corner of the club, their heads low and close together. He says nothing about it either. Let them have this.)

The dancing becomes more arduous, more intense. Even if he feels refreshed after every song, it's still beginning to drain him. The twins have tasks for him, as well: he does his best to find the things they've hidden, and the treasure located somewhere in this mysterious place. Ren's pulled all-nighters while cramming for exams, but it was never like this. When will it end? Or will it? Have they secretly been pulled into some shadowy, Mementoes-like place to be tortured by dancing forever?

It turns out to be nothing so sinister, of course; if anything, when Caroline and Justine finally reveal their true purpose, it's encapsulated neatly by Futaba in meme form: "The real treasure was the friends we made along the way!" Ren is relieved that the night is nearing its end; at the same time, he finds himself just a bit disappointed, too. Will he truly remember nothing in the morning? What of the bonds that deepened between all of them as they danced together: will that sentiment, too, disappear into the ether on waking?

As the room dissolves around them, he reaches for Yusuke, clings to him. The last thing he recalls is the warmth of Yusuke's lips on his before darkness claims them both.

* * *

When he wakes up, Ren finds himself staring at the ceiling of his bedroom in Tokorozawa. For a moment, the sight is strange and confusing. Where are the dark rafters of his attic room over Leblanc? Why does it feel like everything should be painted a deep shade of velvety blue?

Then he sits up and remembers. He's at home, where he's been since everything in Tokyo ended. Today's Sunday, and he has plans to go... to go...

 _To go see Yusuke_ , his mind finishes for him. But that makes no sense at all. If he was going to see Yusuke, he would have gone into Tokyo on the train last night and stayed over at Sojiro's. He would have had dinner at Leblanc and seen everyone.

 _Weird dreams_ , he thinks, and gets up. There was something about dancing, and Morgana in his old form; there was music, of course, to go with the dancing, and the others were all there too, all of the Phantom Thieves. His friends.

His phone buzzes on the nightstand, startling him. There's always something from the group chat, usually Ryuji boasting about the women he claims to have met or Haru sending pictures from her greenhouse. This time, though, it's a text from one sender only.

 _Do you remember last night?_ is the whole of the message from Yusuke. 

And just like that, he does. Memory hits Ren like a lightning bolt. The kiss. Yusuke's room. More kisses. A promise to make themselves recall at least that much on waking.

His heart hammering in his chest, Ren texts back. _I do._

 _I'm on the train to Tokorozawa_. Yusuke's reply comes back swiftly. _Meet me at the station?_

Ren's never gotten dressed faster in his life.

* * *

He knows exactly where the platform is for the train from Tokyo; even so, it seems to take Ren forever to get to it. Traffic from Tokyo isn't bad at this time of day, but every single person in the train station seems to be determined to step right into Ren's path. Finally, he gives up and jumps over someone's baggage, standing in the middle of the corridor as if designed to slow him down.

The train hasn't arrived by the time Ren reaches the platform. That's fine. Ren takes the time to cool down, walking around and catching his breath, refreshing himself with water from a nearby vending machine. He checks his reflection in the glass, wipes sweat from his forehead. He's fine. He's cool. He's got this.

The train comes screeching into the station on a squeal of hydraulics and brakes, and cold sweat beads in his palms. He is very definitely _not_ cool.

He's grateful for his height, only craning his neck a little to see over the people making their way off the train as he searches for a head of blue-black hair, the white uniform shirt of Kosei or maybe that purple shirt Yusuke liked to wear on non-school days. When he catches sight of a lanky frame and a familiar grey hoodie, his breath catches. The head comes up and their eyes meet, and suddenly Ren's in motion, crossing the platform with impatient strides. Yusuke's _here_ , just like he promised--

"Ren," he hears Yusuke say. "Ren," and then Yusuke's in his arms and Ren's clinging to him like a lifeline. He wants to kiss Yusuke right here in front of everyone and damn the gossip mill.

 _Fuck it_ , he thinks. There'll already be rumors spreading just from the way he and Yusuke met and grabbed on to each other. He lifts his head and sees Yusuke's knowing smile, and he deflates.

"Soon," Yusuke murmurs, like a promise.

* * *

Ren's parents are at home, but he doesn't want to take Yusuke there for a variety of reasons. Instead, they walk to a nearby park, a quiet green space where Ren hopes they won't be noticed -- particularly by people who might recognize him.  
"How much do you remember?" he asks, when they've found a bench near a statue of some ancient hero.

Yusuke shrugs. "That would assume I knew all of what happened, and I'm not sure there's any logical way to verify the events in the club. I do recall waking up there, and the young ladies who challenged us to partake in their dance battle, as it were."

Ren nods; that scans with what he remembers as well. "And all the dancing, and our rooms. We did a lot of practicing, too."

"It felt rather as if we spent a month there, instead of a single night," Yusuke says. "And yet we didn't sleep or eat at all, to my recollection."

"I still don't understand how..." Ren trails off, then shakes his head, glancing almost shyly at Yusuke. "I guess it doesn't matter now, though. I got the impression we did everything they wanted us to, and we're done now."

"Everything they requested of us, and one thing they didn't." Yusuke meets Ren's gaze. His hand slips across the bench, in the private space between them, to rest atop Ren's. "I am entirely sure that this part of the night had nothing to do with their odd rivalry with their sister."

Ren feels heat creeping across his cheeks. He doesn't know if the twins monitored everything that happened in the club, but he certainly hopes they didn't. This is between himself and Yusuke; it's not anyone else's to know.

"Ren," Yusuke says, soft. "Even if our overtures were made in some sort of dreaming world, they felt real then, and they still do now. We might not be able to be physically close, not for some time; in spite of that, I would still like to--"

Ren can't stand it any longer. He turns to Yusuke, cuts off what promises to be a rambling speech about figuring out how to carry on a long-distance relationship until they can live in the same city again, and kisses him. Gratifyingly, Yusuke makes a little sound, one hand coming up to cradle Ren's cheek.

"We'll make it work," Ren says afterwards, with his forehead resting against Yusuke's. "I'll come back to Tokyo for college, and we can do this properly."

"I'd like that more than anything," Yusuke murmurs before tipping his head up for another kiss.

* * *

They spend some time wandering around Tokorozawa's downtown district, stopping to get something to eat; Ren takes a selfie with Yusuke, setting it as his phone's background at once. As evening begins to descend, Yusuke boards the train headed back to Tokyo. Ren stands on the platform and watches him go, only a small pang of longing squeezing at his heart. They're not so far apart, after all, and Ren's last year of high school will go by in no time at all. 

Ren dances all the way home.


End file.
